Macro-Sing
<<--Back to Conlangs Macro-Sing was an isolating, monosyllabic, tonal language, with very few morphological features. Most grammatical relations were expressed by means of word position, there being no formal distinction of word classes (nouns, verbs &c.) Sentences generally consist of sequences of words separated by pauses. E.g.: *'Zhu2, thwo2, a2yn' "book, table, top" -> "The book is on the table", "There is a book on the table" or even "I put the book onto the table". These pauses are not regularly written. Groups of words with no pause are generally joined by a dot (.) in transcription. Phonology Consonants Consonants used in Macro-Sing are the following: p t k b d g f s sh v z zh m n ng h x r l tr th dh tsh mb y w They may appear in the beginning and at the end of syllables. In the beginning of a syllable, they may be followed by a semivowel (r''', '''y or w'''), while at the ending of a syllable they may be preceded by a semivowel. So, Macro-Sing syllable structure may be represented as: (C(S))V((S)C), that is, an obligatory vowels that may be preceded by a consonant or a consonant+semivowel and (that may be) followed by a consonant or a semivowel+consonant. Syllables consisting of a single vowel (without any consonant or semivowel) are rare. Obviously odd combinations such as '''yw or trr are also non-existent. Vowels Vowels are simply a e i o u, which may be open or closed, oral or nasal, depending on dialect. Tones Syllables have one of four tones: *1 high tone *2 rising tone *3 low tone *4 falling tone Technically speaking, there are eight tones, as each tone has a variant which is used in open syllables, i.e., when the vowel is not followed by any consonant or semivowel in the same syllable. These secondary tones are: *1b extra-high tone *2b high rising tone *3b extra-low tone *4b high falling tone But, as these are predictable and have no influence on meaning, they are generally not considered in grammar analyses of the language. E.g.: *'zhu2' "book", with a high rising tone *'a2yn' "top", with a mid rising ton *'zhe4r' "zero", "nothing", "nil", with a mid falling tone *'ne4' "nine", with a high falling tone The attribution of numbers to tones was intended to mirror that used in Chinese, so that those who are familiar with this language could have no problem identifying the tones. The only exception is for the third tone, which is "circumflex" (low falling-rising) in Chinese but a flat low (or extra-low) tone in Sing. Morphology Nouns Although there is no formal distinction for word classes in Sing, words functioning as nouns may be modified by several particles. Definition The particle tha3 marks a noun as having been already introduced in the text or conversation. It is also used to mark a noun that is being determined by some other means, as. e.g., an explanatory phrase. E.g.: *'Tha3.zhu2 thwo2 a2yn' "DEF.book, table, top" -> "The/that book that/which is on the table" *'Tha3.zhu2 thwo2 a2yn wa3k xe4wn' "DEF.book, table, top, you, see" -> "The/that book that/which you see/have seen on the table" The particle fo1 is used to introduce an element that will be a topic (main or secondary) in the text or conversation. It implies that some information will be given about that topic in the subsequent text/conversation. E.g.: *'Fo1.zhu2 thwo2 a2yn' "INDEF.book, table, top" -> "There is a book on the table", "A book is on the table" (implying that you want to know something about it or that you will provide some information about it). Compare this sentence with the previous one, without any marker: *'Zhu2 thwo2 a2yn' "book, table, top" -> "The book is on the table", "There is a book on the table" or even "I put the book onto the table". In this case you are simply making an observation about an object you see, like e.g. in the description of a room. Possession Possession may be expressed by the particle yu2 put between the possessor and the possessed. E.g.: *'Kwo2y.yu2.tu2n' "I.POSS.house" -> "my house" *'Me4sh.yu2.xu2k' "general.POSS.sword" -> "the general's sword" This particle may be omitted when the relation between possessor and possessed is very strong, obvious or well known. E.g.: *'xwi1.ya3wng' "star.sky" -> "a star of the sky", "the stars of the sky" *'ku2s.we4sh' "tooth.mouth" -> "the teeth of the/my/his/etc. mouth" Case Properly speaking, there are no cases in Sing. Syntactical functions depend heavily on the meaning of the words in use. E.g., let's see how the word thyu3 "town, city" appears in what would be several "cases": *'Kwo2y mwo2w thyu3' "I go town" -> "I am going to town." ("directive") *'Kwo2y the4 thyu3' "I live town" -> "I live in the/this town." ("locative") *'Kwo2y ka3m thyu3' "I exit town" -> "I get out from town." ("ablative") *'Kwo2y xe4wn thyu3' "I see town" -> "I am seeing the town." ("accusative") On the other hand, sometimes a word is used to convey some specific meaning for which we would use a preposition or case. E.g.: *'Kwo2y the4 xwi1r nwi1y' "I live companion family" -> "I live with (my) family." *'Kwo2y myi1ng kwi1 te4l' "I write use pen" -> "I am writing with a pen." *'Twi1 nwa4w thwa4y e3yn' "He fall departure mountain" -> "He fell off from the/a mountain." *'Twi1 tu2sh ko1p the4ng' "He possess company" -> "His company is large", "He has a large company" Sample *"Te4t.zhwi1 ko1m zhe4t wo1m fa3 ye4st.thyu3w ye4st.i4yn. Tha3r kya4l i4rg fa3 yu2m. Tha3r u1t fu2l zhe4s kwi1 zho1k.wa3l.yu2.xa3l." **''("All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.")'' ***Lit.: "Human.being all be-born free add equal.dignity equal.rights. They endowed reason add conscience. They should act reciprocity use brother.hood.POSS.spirit"